Monday Matters
Thelma Jones Elementary Week of February 7th-11th
Greetings Shark Family!
Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your extra time off with your student(s). We were happy to see their smiling faces and hear about their snow day adventures.
As of today, our campus has downgraded to the green COVID status, and we are now allowing visitors on campus and will host after-school gatherings. Our restrictions have been lifted but I ask you all to be considerate when coming to campus for lunches. Please self-screen before joining your student for lunch and avoid visiting the campus if you are feeling ill. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation on this matter.
Reminders:
- Send your son/ daughter with a coat.
- Breakfast is from 7:30- 8:00.
- Students must be in class by the 8:00 bell. If not, they are considered tardy and this will be marked on their attendance record.
- Please keep your students home if they are sick.
- You must show your government issued ID card to check-in.
Have a wonderful week!
In partnership,
Mrs. Rhines
Feb. 9th- TJE DOC Squad- Calling all dads! Are you interested in getting involved at Thelma Jones Elementary? Join us on February 9th for breakfast with your student, followed by a dad’s club interest meeting. Breakfast will be from 7:30-8:00 in the cafeteria and the meeting will begin at 8:00. Please join us and learn how you can help our students grow.
Important Dates
February
7th-Counselor Appreciation Week begins
8th- Kindergarten's 100th day of school parade
9th- TJE DOC Squad Meeting (Dad's Club) 8:00 am-9:00 am
10th- Spring and Group Picture Day
11th-Grade Level Jump Rope for Heart
16th-Water Safety Field Trip-Terry and Jackson
17th-End of 4th Six Weeks
18th- Student Holiday/Teacher Workday
21st- Presidents Day- No School
22nd-Twosday
25th-Third and fourth six weeks Awards
Optional Device Insurance (Grades 2-12)
Device Insurance Enrollment: Students in grades 2-12 are eligible to purchase optional device insurance to cover district-issued devices. The insurance window ends on Friday, February 4, 2022.
Take Care of Your District Issued Device
Take Care of Your District issued Device!
Parents,
Please remind your son/ daughter of how to properly handle and store their district issued device, as there are many costs associated with them. (See Chromebook & Components prices below) You may also visit the Technology Department's page for Student Issued Devices.
If your child breaks their device, you may make payments (cash/check) to the campus secretary/Bookkeeper or through Payk12/Tickettracker if they are needing to purchase a replacement power cord, protective case or a replacement device.
Link for Payk12 is: https://www.ticketracker.com/store?schoolId=1545.
TJE DOC Squad
You will need to fill out the volunteer form which can be found below.
Power of Choice
STEM Applications
Applications for MISD STEM Academies are now open online and will close Friday February 11th. Please visit the MISD Power of Choice webpage. Current 2nd and 3rd graders can apply to Brenda Norwood STEM Academy and current 4th graders can apply to Alma Martinez STEM Academy for the 2022-2023 school year.
Norwood Application (Spanish) -- FAQs
Martinez Application (Spanish) -- FAQs
Fine Arts at Kenneth Davis Elementary School
Please visit the link to see a recording of the online Kenneth Davis Elementary Fine Arts Academy parent information meeting so that you can learn more about this opportunity that will be available for our students in August 2022. Link to recording: https://youtu.be/qvdO5NmNRxs
For more information about MISD Power of Choice programs and applications, visit www.mansfieldisd.org/choice.
If you are sick, please stay home. Remember, masks are optional but encouraged.
Field Trips
If it is a school-planned field trip, parents are always welcome. When attending field trips, we ask that you adhere to the guidelines and timelines presented in the field trip letter.
- Chaperones must pay by the payment deadline.
- Your payment for your student needs to be paid by the payment deadline.
- All chaperones must have an MISD background check. No exceptions, as our students' safety is our # 1 priority. I have included the link for you to do your background check. You don't have to wait until field trip time so please fill it out at your earliest convenience.
- Background checks must be done in advance. There is typically a 10-day wait for background checks.
- Parents are not allowed to show up to the field trip site and join the group. We are very particular about how we set up groups to ensure the safety of our students.
- You must have a school badge when attending field trips.
Drop Off and Pick Up Procedures
In an effort to make sure our systems and procedures are running as smoothly as possible, I am including a few reminders about our dismissal process.
- Please make all transportation changes by 3:00 p.m.
- If you are making a transportation change, please email the teacher. If you do not receive a confirmation response by 3:15 p.m. you may call the office. Please do not call the office first. Oftentimes the office staff is very busy with phone calls and other duties. Likewise, everyone has different work schedules so we are not fully staffed at dismissal. We do not want to miss delivering a message about transportation changes so please make every effort to make those changes through the teacher.
- No dismissal changes will be made by word of mouth. We must hear it from the parent.
- Please limit walking into the office to pick up your students during dismissal. Again, we have limited staff and they are busy calling buses and answering phones.
- Once students have started moving to their dismissal location, we will not call them to the office until the office staff has fulfilled their required duties.
- Please be kind to the TJE staff!
- Write your child's teacher a note in their take home folder, if there is a change in how they get home.
- For same day changes, please email your child's teacher as soon as possible. If you do not receive a reply, then call the front office.
- No students dismissal schedule will be changed by word of mouth.
- Students need to be in class by 8:00 to be considered on time.
- Students must be picked up by 3:45.
- If your son/ daughter is in kindergarten or 1st grade, they must have an adult awaiting their arrival at the bus stop.
Free Breakfast and Lunch
- FREE MEALS for ALL students will continue for the 2021-22 school year!
Every MISD student is eligible for one free breakfast meal and one free lunch meal every school day.
A la carte and extra meal items will still be available for purchase.
It is very important that families still complete the Free & Reduced Meal Applications this year if they feel they might qualify. Why? Qualifying families approved on the program receive other valuable benefits and services for their children. It is also important for district funding opportunities, like Title 1 and comp ed, that are dependent on economically disadvantaged student data. Here is a short video that explains more about it:
https://www.facebook.com/GoodFoodRealFood/videos/176894754466314
We are hiring! The Student Nutrition Department has several positions to fill across the district. If you know of parents, community members, family, and/or friends looking for a job, please share! Thank you for spreading the word!
Apply for free & reduced meals: https://www.schoolcafe.com/mansfieldisd
Meal Payment System
SchoolCafé is a safe and secure way for parents to add funds to student(s) lunch accounts, monitor student(s) account balance, view purchases, and payments, and set up low balance email alerts. Register for a SchoolCafé account.
Questions about your child's cafeteria account?
If you have questions regarding a student's cafeteria account (application status, purchase history, obtaining ID or PIN, enrollment, etc.), please be ready to provide all names, schools, and IDs along with your questions to Student Nutrition at studentnutrition@misdmail.org or 817-299-6040.
Do you need to update your email address or phone numbers in Skyward? You can make those changes in Family Access.
Here's how:
- Log into Family Access
- Click on My Account (top right corner)
- When the Account Settings screen opens, there is place for your email address and up to three phone numbers.
- Please note – Each parent/guardian can enter one email address to receive communication via Skyward Message Center.
- Once changes are made, click Save.
If you, parent/guardian, is unable to log into Family Access, there are a couple options:
1 – Use the Forgot Your Password link from the Family Access login page
2 – Email misdregistration@misdmail.org
Bus Information
Bus Information
Mansfield ISD will provide bus transportation for all students meeting the eligibility requirements for transportation.
Find My Bus
http://edulog1.mansfieldisd.org/liveweb/webquery/
School Bus Rider’s Safety Handbook
https://www.mansfieldisd.org/departments/transportation/riders-handbook
For Bus Delays & Substitutions https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j_9bi_plWMqtBDp8AG8B31rb3KzTAOIhRWe8B0CwTnY/edit
Transportation Department
Covid Tiered System
Along with the list of health and safety protocols that have been in effect since the beginning of the school year, MISD has released a new COVID-19 advisory level system that provides guidance for implementing elevated mitigating strategies if percentages of active cases rise at a certain campus.
The advisory levels consist of green, yellow, and red tiers. Please view the COVID-19 advisory level system here. If the advisory level at a campus changes, the school principal will send out communication to parents and staff with further information.